A Day in the Life of a Traveling Arc Flash Technician

By Jesse Walker, Electrical Technician at Guidant Power

When I board a 6 a.m. flight on Monday, my luggage isn’t exactly typical. Two 50-lb checked bags, a duffel, a backpack, and a small roller with a label printer. By Friday, those labels will be on energized equipment across a facility I’d never seen on Monday morning. That’s the job: travel, observe, document, verify, and keep people safe.

My Background

I’ve been an electrician since high school. Years in residential and commercial work, then a decade on the utility side. That mix showed me both ends of the power chain: how electricity is made and how it’s used. Today, as an arc flash technician with Guidant Power, I’m the eyes and ears for our engineers. I open doors (safely), look inside, take photos, and interpret what I see into drawings and data the engineers use to complete an arc flash analysis. Later in the week, I print the final labels on site and apply them where they belong.

Monday: New city, new facility

Arrive. Check in. Safety orientation. Every plant has its own rules: hair nets and booties at dairy plants, cleanroom suits in medical settings, or just “watch for forklifts” in a warehouse. If keys or access cards are needed, I get those too. Then they usually cut me loose.

Sometimes I have old drawings to mark up; sometimes I’m starting from scratch. Either way, the goal is the same: by week’s end, I can “see” the facility in my head. I take a lot of photos (as in, 130,000 in under three years), and I leave myself breadcrumbs: wide-angle shots for context, time-stamped albums, and color-coded digital notes (Monday in red, Tuesday in blue…). That system saves hours when it’s time to match every printed label to the exact piece of equipment it belongs on.

Tools of the trade (and the suitcase)

People assume I carry half a toolbox. Actually it’s just ten pounds of hand tools, mostly screwdrivers. It’s because I’m not rewiring; I’m inspecting. So, the real weight is PPE: rubber gloves, hard hat, hood, fire retardant clothing, my 40-cal suit. Plus the printer and label stock rolls.

Yes, I Travel With a Printer

The labels we apply, you can't buy them at the store: they are custom-made. At the end of the week, I’ll print a PDF of finalized labels from my laptop and apply them to the equipment, making a note of where everything goes.

Safety that shows up every day

Earlier in my career, I was reminded how quickly things can go wrong. A brittle plastic part gave way, a conductor found ground, and a breaker tripped, killing power to half a building. I walked away because I was gloved up. It reminded me to always put safety first, by air-testing gloves, inspecting PPE, and pausing to ask:

“Do I really need to open this? What’s the safest way?”

Working alone most days means discipline isn’t optional. I’m my own safety officer. Each morning starts with checks: gear, gloves, mindset. Electrical accidents may be rare, but when they happen, they’re serious. My goal is to make sure the next guy touching the equipment never has to learn the hard way.

From Dairy Plants to the High Plains

This job has taken me around the country, from spotless dairy facilities where every entry means a full “costume change” of smocks and booties, to tire factories and oil sites in North Dakota. I’ve seen snow pile higher than my truck and sunsets that stretch forever over open land.

When you spend most weeks on the road, you learn to appreciate the quiet times, like when watching bison cross in front of your truck, or catching a sunrise in a place you’ve never been before. The travel can be tiring, but it’s also a front-row seat to how America is powered.

The Reward

By Friday, the drawings are updated, the data is double-checked, and the labels are on. Each one represents a piece of verified information that keeps someone safe. The engineers finish their calculations for the arc flash analysis, but it all starts with the work I do onsite. I get to contribute the first mile of that journey, and it’s pretty cool.

P.S.: We're hiring arc flash technicians in multiple cities. If you're an experienced electrician, check out our current openings or email your information to careers@guidantpower.com.